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<![CDATA[TeachinArt.com - Blog]]>Tue, 14 Jul 2026 09:28:31 -0600Weebly<![CDATA[Cyclone in Australia inspires ceramic artist | TeachinArt]]>Wed, 29 Mar 2023 16:22:23 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/cyclone-in-australia-inspires-ceramic-artist-teachinartCyclones in Australia and that southern part of the world are not uncommon. Sometimes these storms with high winds and tides may even change some of the landscapes, and that is exactly what inspired Jan to use her ceramic skills to show what she experienced when tropical cyclone Seth hit Queensland.

Here is Jan in her own words.

I live on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland in Australia where we get the effects of tropical cyclones… mainly rain and high tides. In January, 2022 we were hit by Cyclone Seth which brought with it a very rough sea. It hit Bribie Island opposite Golden Beach causing a breakthrough of this uninhabited tip of the Island with hundreds of Pandanus trees being uprooted and washed away down the Passage. The small breakthrough In January grew from the first photo from a few metres to over 800 metres in the second photo taken in July.

The sand patterns and channels have changed so much that in low tide you can now walk across. The southern end of the Island goes down to Brisbane (some 100 km) - the passage of water between is known as Pumicestone Passage due to the small pumice stones that still wash ashore.

Although Cyclone Seth was a tropical cyclone for a little over 24 hours in the Coral Sea, its entire track lasted 15 days. There was severe flooding in southeast Queensland and hazardous surf along the southern Queensland as well as the northern New South Wales coast. The low was responsible for onset of the monsoon over Darwin and the Top End.

Jan Roebuck is one of the TeachinArt online students from Australia. She completed the Understanding Porcelain (Aug 2014) class with Antoinette Badenhorst, and the Colored Clay (Oct 2018) class with Curtis Benzle.

Here are some of the other porcelain creations of this talented porcelain artist.

]]><![CDATA[In Pursuit of the Perfect Porcelain Pot]]>Thu, 17 Mar 2022 17:42:27 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/in-pursuit-of-the-perfect-porcelain-potCANVAS AND CLAY ART

Ailsa J Brown, a ceramic artist, and painter from Vancouver in Canada, embarked on her art studies attending the Chelsea School of Art in London, England. After completing her first year abroad, she returned home and earned her diploma at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design. Ailsa has passed on her knowledge teaching wheel throwing and her "Painted Pot" workshops, sharing various methods and techniques of surface treatment to develop one's own visual language through self-exploration and discovery.

Ailsa is a former student of TeachinArt and completed the Understanding Porcelain online class with Antoinette Badenhorst in Jul-Oct in 2020.

Ailsa Brown with her clay and canvas

TeachinArt porcelain student Ailsa Brown

Here is Ailsa in her own words.

My exploration into the world of porcelain came with the desire to have a pure white surface for my painted underglaze surface decoration. Up until this time, I had been using a cone 6 white clay body. This however, had its drawbacks, as I was experimenting with an unglazed surface and at cone 6 the white clay fired to more of an ivory/tan colour. The results were great at the bisque stage but the higher temperature diminished the brilliance and consequently, the underglazes lost their vibrancy and dulled them down. This was not the effect I was after.

Fortunately, I discovered Antoinette's course on porcelain and plunged into adapting my process using this new medium. Initially, I embarked on a full cleansing of my studio in preparation for working with this wonderful, white “diva” that Antointette affectionately refers to it as. I must admit, there was a period of adjustment learning the characteristics and particulars of this new material and also of its limitations. Antoinette’s guidance and instruction helped me over the major hurdles and I found myself well on my way. I have nowhere near discovered all the intricacies and will surely face many more challenges along the way however, the luminosity of the finished product has me hooked. I now have a surface that sings and highlights my painted decoration beautifully.

As a painter and a potter, I love to combine my two passions by applying a colourful nature inspired surface treatment that compliments my wheel thrown and hand built vessels. My main artistic inspiration is the flowing organic forms found on the bark of trees and other diverse plant life here on the west coast of BC, Canada. Sketches are done outdoors and then, back in the studio, are simplified and applied to my vessels in a controlled but loose manner using underglaze paints that are further refined with line work, sgraffito and slip trailing. I am also fascinated with the ancient pottery forms and decoration of the Minoan Civilization and this intrigue has prompted additional patterned imagery resulting in a blend of contemporary and antiquity.

Coloured glazes may be used to highlight particular features and most recently, the addition of gold lustre or gold/silver gilding is the finishing touch.

As any potter knows, there are always ups and downs using any clay - from wedging to throwing, glazing to firing - and porcelain is no exception. It takes a patient heart and a determined mind to persevere in this practice along with a strong will to succeed. But, is it not so gratifying? When that one pot emerges from the kiln and lights you up with its honesty, humbleness and beauty, it is the most rewarding and satisfying delight. And so, I carry on in my pursuit to create the perfect porcelain pot.

Her social media: Facebook alsajbrown | Instagram @ailsajbrownart | Website www.ailsajbrown.com

Other links:
See the TeachinArt online workshops
Find out about our online instructors
Look at our students work

]]><![CDATA[Stories on clay - British artist, Gail Altschuler]]>Fri, 17 Dec 2021 00:09:31 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/stories-on-clay-british-artist-gail-altschuler

Gail Altschuler is a ceramic artist from South Africa, who works from her home/studio in North London, England, UK. She was one of the first online students of TeachinArt and completed the understanding porcelain e-course in August of 2014.

Drawing inspiration from sketchbook observations of life. Gail’s ceramic work is illustrated with her line drawings of people, plants and images from art history. "A picture says more than 1,000 words".

"I have done ceramics since the age of 15. I always loved working with clay, but I also wanted to learn to draw and paint and gain a substantial knowledge of art history.

So, I studied art and design, fine art and history of art. I teach drawing, painting and hand-built ceramics and I have owned a kiln for 13 years. I have worked with porcelain for four to five years now but with other stoneware and earthenware clays for a lot longer."

Building her pieces by hand, in porcelain she fires them to 1220ºC. The process involves using many graphic procedures, combing Mishima, inlay techniques, with sgraffito and coloured washes, all under a transparent glaze. Porcelain mimics the whiteness of paper revealing the crisp lines with a sharp, vividness that she enjoys.
Gail first became interested in ceramics while a school student. She studied Art and Design, Fine Art, History of Art and has an MA is Art and Design Education. She has taught ceramics, art and art history to adults, teens and children.

Gail worked with art curators and art consultants creating colourful abstract monoprint silkscreens for many years, which were used in hotels and offices. Her work is widely exhibited across the UK and abroad, including in Japan, the USA and South Africa.

“I aim to blur the lines between Fine Art and Ceramic Craft. I use clay and porcelain, as my canvas, creating sculptural slab-built vessels and illustrated plates. The themes include masks from different cultures, musicians, at the café, at the beach, at the Met
and conversations across time.” – Gail Altschuler

Recent Exhibitions
2021 Selected member of the Craft Potters Association
Selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
Exhibiting at Silson Contemporary Art, Harrogate
Exhibited at Fillingdon Fine Art High Wycombe
Selected for the ‘Figurative Art Now’, Mall Galleries, FBA, online exhibition

Links:
Understanding porcelain online workshop by Antoinette Badenhorst.
Online workshops at TeachinArt.

]]><![CDATA[How to fix cracks on porcelain and pottery]]>Mon, 23 Mar 2020 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/how-to-fix-cracks-on-porcelain-and-pottery

Antoinette Badenhorst is a ceramic artist and writer from Saltillo Mississippi who is also an online instructor at TeachinArt. She specializes in porcelain and shares some of her tips for fixing cracks with potters.

"After 37 years in clay I still fix pots that I love!

I know some of you will pull out the hammer, but some will want to fix it.
The most important thing any potter can do, is to find out why the piece cracked and then prevent the problem in future. However, there are ways to fix cracking."

Another important thing to consider is if it is at all worth it to fix the crack. If it will take you longer to fix the piece than it would take you to make a new one, then it will be penny-wise-pound-foolish to fix it. It is also good to learn when a crack is really not worth the effort and when it may make a real difference. Some cracks are more worthy to fix than others.

A piece that is strictly for decoration and will not get confused for a utilitarian piece, is a perfect piece to fix, both artificially and structurally; that is with or without ceramic materials. In fact, a crack that distract from the beauty, should be fixed. However, when the utilitarian strength of a piece, for instance the handle of a teapot, is weakened by the fixing process, it is not worth it to put your reputation as a ceramic artist on the line.

All potters must at least fix one crack in their lifetime, or else they have not had the “full clay experience” - I say that tongue-in-the-cheek. However, there was one potter known, not only for fixing cracks, but she changed the whole perspective on American porcelain as she was recognized as the most important United States ceramic artist in the 20th century (Arts and Antiques magazine - March 2000).

Intended as her contribution to a program of The People's University in University City, in 1910 to make "grand, public statements in clay", the “Scarab Vase” won the Grand Prize in pottery at the Turin International Exhibition one year later. At the time American ceramics was not much acclaimed in the world, but Adelaide’s persistence to make the vase successful, changed that completely.

Adelaïde Alsop Robineau was born during the last remnants of the industrial revolution in the United States and growing up, she became a painting artist. But as it often went with artists during these times, she worked also as a china painter on ceramics to help support her family.

One of very few women in the USA to study and practice pottery at the time, she worked primarily in porcelain, experimenting with American clay to create a true high-fire porcelain.
It took her over 1,000 hours to make, but as it often happens with porcelain, there were small cracks when it came from the kiln. Taxile Doat, her teacher advised her to trash the piece, as it appeared to be irreparable. She did not give it up and spent hours grinding bisque to powder, mixing it with some powdered glaze, and filled the cracks. After re-glazing and re-firing, the piece was pulled from the kiln with no signs of cracks or reparation.

How does Antoinette fixes cracks in her pots?

Here is how I fix cracks: Mix up some paper clay from your clay body. Add a few drops of clear glaze and some finely grounded bisque from the same clay as the mug. Clean any dust away and add some clear glaze on the chip. As it dries, it may open up some cracks again, but keep filling it with more paper clay. Remember paper clay must still shrink to catch up with the rest of the body, so it needs enough filler that will not shrink that much.

When you put it back in the kiln, put some silica on the shelf under the piece to prevent possible sticking. If it is a foot rim, you may have to sand it when it comes out.

Links:
Porcelain by Antoinette
E-courses (online workshops) at TeachinArt
Preview our e-courses
Demonstrations and tips

Tags:
#potterytips #faultsandremedies #fixingfaults #teachinart #ceramicschool #paperclay #paperporcelain

]]><![CDATA[How to do spiral wedging]]>Mon, 16 Mar 2020 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/how-to-do-spiral-wedging

David Voorhees is a professional potter from North Carolina who works with porcelain. He presents an online workshop (Porcelain tips for wheel pottery) at TeachinArt online school of art and demonstrates in the e-course how to do spiral wedging. This video clip is a short preview of the six weeks online class with David.

What is wedging? It is a clay term for kneading and is used to remove air bubbles or air pockets from the clay. Any air trapped in the clay, makes the centering of the clay on a potters wheel so much more difficult and if an air pocket is trapped inside clay and you fire it in the kiln, it can explode. Wedging helps to spread moisture evenly throughout the clay which helps with easier centering on the wheel. Even if you do not use a potter's wheel and only work with hand building, then wedging is just as important. Many potters have experienced the shock when they opened the electric kiln and see that one of their pots (with air trapped air inside) exploded and messed up all the surrounding pots.

The spiral wedging technique is handy when you have to wedge or knead large clay batches. It is also called the Japanese wedging or kneading. Some potters only use the spiral method. We will post later other wedging techniques.

Links
Online art workshops (e-courses)
Demonstrations, tips & techniques
Art instructors
Preview e-courses

Tags:
#wedgingclay #spiralwedging #teachinart #teachingartist #ceramicschool #potteryschool #kneadingclay

]]><![CDATA[How to center clay on the pottery wheel]]>Mon, 09 Mar 2020 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/how-to-center-clay-on-the-pottery-wheel

Centering clay on the wheel is one of the most crucial parts of wheel throwing. The clay particles are already forced into a spiral during the wedging process. Centering on the wheel adds to the strength of all the clay particles in a strong force that reduces the possibility of cracks. If the clay is not centered correctly, pulling up the walls of the vessel becomes a nightmare.

Did you know that you can set the pottery wheel to spin clockwise or anti-clockwise? For right-handed potters, the pottery wheel should spin counterclockwise, while left-handed throwers should switch the direction of the wheel head to a clockwise motion.

Throwing on the wheel is easier if you use a good throwing technique instead of using brute force to center the clay. It is easier to center the clay if your elbow is locked on your upper leg. There is a much stronger force when your leg pushes the clay instead of relying just on your arms.

This video clip is part of the Understanding Porcelain e-course by Antoinette Badenhorst. TeachinArt brings ceramic workshops into pottery studios around the world. Remote ceramic teaching helps to bridge the gap between college students and hobby potters.

Other interesting links on our online school website:

Tags:
#centeringclay #wheelthrowing #potterytips #teachinart #wheelpottery #clayshares #ceramicschool #virtualclass

]]><![CDATA[How to prevent mug handle cracking]]>Mon, 02 Mar 2020 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/how-to-prevent-mug-handle-cracking

Nan RothwellNan Rothwell is a professional, functional potter from North Carolina who have 40+ years ceramics experience. She is the online instructor for the take your wheel throwing to the next level e-course at TeachinArt. She shares tips and techniques in her online class with potters and shows them how to move into advanced throwing with ease.

When you attach a handle to a mug, teapot, jug or any other clay wall, cracking of the handle is one of the big problems. When you add wet clay to a dry pot, the chances are very good for cracking at the handle.

There are several reasons why handles crack loose from a mug, but this tip from Nan Rothwell may help you prevent some of your cracking reasons in the future.

Other links:
Learn pottery online (E-courses)
See our other demonstrations, tips & techniques
Preview e-courses

Tags:
#pottery tips #claymugs #ceramicschool #clayshares #teachinArt #makingmugs #teachingpottery

]]><![CDATA[Tips for throwing cylinders and bowls]]>Sat, 08 Feb 2020 21:59:32 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/tips-for-throwing-cylinders-and-bowlsWheel throwing tips from David Voorhees

David Voorhees is a functional potter from North Carolina with over 40 years experience in ceramics. He is the instructor of the online workshop Porcelain Tips For Wheel Pottery at TeachinArt.

Several potters have problems with opening and pulling up consistent cylinders or bowl forms. Some of the problems are uneven walls with too much thickness at the bottom, uneven rims, and slumping clay.

David shows how to throw a porcelain urn.

David in the recording studio of TeachinArt.

These are all common problems associated with skill development and learning to use porcelain on the wheel. Porcelain does require a bit more of us as craftsmen. It needs to be prepared better and we need to limit the amount of time it is allowed to be fully wet during forming.

Here are my suggestions for those experiencing these common problems:

Wedge well, but don’t dry the clay out too much. Keep it covered! (see how to do Spiral wedging, as well as the Bulls head wedging)
Center the best you can, using enough water to keep the clay uniformly slippery.
Move directly into opening and compressing the bottom.
For cylinders, make a pronounced corner on the inside.
First pull; aim for uniform thickness with slight taper. Don’t worry about an uneven rim as the clay is being further centered with the wall pulling.
Second pull: raise the clay most of the way, you likely will double the height with this pull. Again, aim for a slight taper in wall thickness. If your rim is uneven, trim it now with a needle tool and round and smooth.
Continue to raise and shape but use less water as it gets thinner. This stage is where ribs and sponges help. Try wet trimming the “skirt” of clay on the outside base before using ribs.
Work in a series to build skills: 6 cylinders or bowl of the same size and shape or several bowls with each slightly larger (weigh them out). As you advance you can throw to a pointer stick. A chopstick in a wad of clay works well. When you have a form that you like, set the pointer ¼” off of the rim. Then work toward making the other like the model pot. Later, you can take weights and measurements so that you know how to produce consistent items. I use 420 grams of clay to make mugs thrown to 4 ¼” tall by 3 ¾” wide at the rim.
Work toward following a step-by-step procedure as you work on a series of pots. Ask yourself what is working and what is not, then repeat the successful sequence and eliminate the steps that don’t help you. The more that you can develop your own sequence for forming an item like a mug, the quicker that you will make them. This will lessen the stress on the clay.
As you master the smaller items like mugs, then you can extend your size range or complexity range. An advanced series may be something like a set of dinner plates, a graduated canister set with lids or a tea set. Most of the skills that you need will be served by mastering the basic elements that I am covering in my online workshop Porcelain Tips For Wheel Pottery.

Links:
Online workshops at TeachinArt
Art instructors at TeachinArt
Preview the e-courses presented at the art school
Demonstrations & tips by our instructors and other artists and crafter's

Tags:
#potterytips #wheelthrown #wheelthrownporcelain #wheelthrowingtips #ceramicschool #teachinart #wedgingclay #wedging

]]><![CDATA[Wedging clay using the bull's head or Ram's head technique]]>Wed, 22 Jan 2020 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/wedging-clay-using-the-bulls-head-of-rams-head-technique

Antoinette Badenhorst explains how to do the bulls head wedging technique in her online workshop Understanding Porcelain. This is a video clip from her six weeks online class. It all starts with preparing the clay before your start with any wheel throwing or handbuilding projects.

Wedging clay is a hot topic to discuss among potters. Some believe that spiral wedging is the best way for preparing the clay, while others will not even think about moving away from the bull's head or ram's head wedging technique. Some ceramic artists even differ about the spelling of the wedging technique - is it bullshead, or maybe bull's head or even just bulls head - and the same argument is used for the ramshead method. Then we also have other techniques like slam wedging and there may be more, but we will discuss that later.

Most potters agree that proper wedging of clay is a very important part of any clay work. This is how you get rid of air bubbles in the clay, but it is also a way how to recycle old clay. Kneading is another term that is used often. Pushing clay through a de-airing pugmil is also considered as a way of wedging in modern times.

Some ceramic scholars learn that a chunk or block of clay is cut into two pieces with the shape of a wedge. The top one is lifted from the lower one, turned over and slammed onto the wedge that remained on the wedging table. This process is repeated until there are no more air pockets in the clay. The wedging process helps to get the clay uniform in plasticity, texture and color. Roughly 20 wedging's or kneading is enough to prepare the clay.

As long as you remove all the air pockets or anything that may mess up your wheel throwing or handbuilding process, then you should be safe to proceed.

In the picture on the left, coloring was used to show the movement of the particles during wedging. It may be an interesting and stimulating test for you to see what happens after 10, 20, 30 times and more of wedging your clay.

Other links:
How to do spiral wedging (David Voorhees)
How to center clay on the pottery wheel (Antoinette Badenhorst)
Demonstrations, tips & techniques
E-course (online workshops)

Tags:
#claywedging #wedgingclay #wedgeclay #potterytips #teachinart

]]><![CDATA[Trimming tips for porcelain by Antoinette Badenhorst]]>Mon, 06 Jan 2020 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/trimming-tips-for-porcelain-by-antoinette-badenhorst

When is the right time to use blunt tools and when should you use sharp trimming tools? How dry should the pot be before you can start with the trimming? When is the best time in the drying stage to start with the trimming process? Is there a right and wrong way for trimming on the wheel? Which is the best trimming tool? How to trim a foot rim? How to trim porcelain?

All of these are valid questions by potters and these problems are all addressed in the online workshops at TeachinArt, the online art school where potters can see close-up demonstrations of each process and can learn the best techniques in the comfort of their own place and own time.

Links:
E-courses (online workshops)
Demonstrations, tips & techniques
Preview E-courses
Our Art Instructors

Tags:
#trimmingclay #wheeltrimming #trimmingtools #trimmingclay #teachinart #trimmingtips #potterytools

]]><![CDATA[Tips: Pinching clay]]>Mon, 30 Dec 2019 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/tips-pinching-clay

Pinching clay is one of the underestimated techniques among potters. Many believe that pinching is just for beginners, but if you master pinching skills, then you can use this even when you are working on the potters wheel.
There are challenges with pinching and sometimes a pinch pot gets completely out of control. This video shows an easy way of how to do in-pinching to get the pinch pot back under your control.

With pinching, you can develop "eyeballs on your fingers", as Antoinette always tells her students. Clay pinching skills will help you to judge the thickness of a wall or a bottom on a pot - helping you with trimming.

Antoinette Badenhorst presents an online workshop where she teaches potters how to pinch a complete functional teapot with clay (Pinching teapots for Beginners).

Links:
E-courses (online workshops)
Preview E-courses
Demonstrations, tips & techniques

Tags:
#Antoinetteporcelain #teachinart #pinchingclay #pinchingpottery #pinchingbowls #potteryclasses #potteryworkshops #teachingartist #Mississippiartist #handbuildpottery #ceramicschool #learnpottery #teachingceramics

]]><![CDATA[Mark Goudy with translucency and water soluble metal salts]]>Mon, 16 Dec 2019 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/mark-goudy-with-translucency-and-water-soluble-metal-saltsMark Goudy was named the Emerging Artist in Ceramics Monthly magazine of May 2010. He completed two online classes at TeachinArt, Porcelain handbuilding with Antoinette Badenhorst, and Colored Clay with Curtis Benzle.

His work was selected for collections in

Keramikmuseum Westerwald, Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany
Mark Rothko Art Centre Collection, Daugavpils, Latvia
Yingge Ceramics Museum, New Taipei City, Taiwan
California State Polytechnic University Ceramics Collection, Pomona, CA, USA
National Museum of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jeffrey Spahn Collection, Berkeley, CA, USA
Forrest L. Merrill Collection, Berkeley, CA, USA

Here is Mark in his own words.

I was born in 1955, in a small university town on the banks of the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania, USA. At age 7, my family moved to Washington DC where I lived during my formative years.
I left home at age 19 and moved 4500 km to the west coast for university, and have remained here ever since.

My formal education lies mostly in science and engineering: a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Oregon, and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from California State University in San Jose. I did take various art classes along the way, but it wasn't until much later in life that I even thought about pursuing a career in ceramics. My interest in music and my hobby of building electronic music synthesizers propelled me into the study of electrical engineering in my late 20s. I ended up working for twenty years as a logic design engineer in the computer graphics industry (including Pixar, Silicon Graphics, nVidia.)

After my mother passed away in 2004, my wife Liza had the idea for us to take a raku class at a local Bay Area adult school, an homage to my mother's creative spirit. Following a twenty-year career working as an engineer in the virtual world of computer chip design, I found the process of clay work to be a cathartic experience - resonating at some deep unconscious level.

The physical nature of handbuilding unique pieces from this plastic medium was immediately satisfying. Soon I was applying my analytical and problem-solving skills to the multivariate issues that surfaced in the clay studio, and exercising my right brain to construct forms in a totally intuitive way.

My approach to ceramics stems from the intersection of my love of the geometries of nature and abstract minimalist art. My mission as an artist is first to create a coherent visual language, and then learn to speak in that language. For me, certain forms evoke a sense of quiet stillness and mystery, and exist in a dimension apart from language. I don't fully understand it.

My current process is to handbuild ceramic forms, joining sections of curved parabolic surfaces that I create using purpose-built plaster hump molds. After a series of scraping, paddling, and shaping transformations, the models are bisque fired and used to make multipart plaster molds. The final works are slipcast, using various clay bodies that I have created.

I see slipcasting as a way to translate one clay body, which is optimized for building, into another clay body with different properties - of lightness or translucency for instance.

Sometimes I burnish earthenware forms to impart a smooth surface with a subtle grain pattern. For other works, there is a lot of wet-sanding to refine and even out the surface. I use no glazes in my work. Instead I have developed techniques for adding color and pattern through the use of metal salts, following the lead of renowned Norwegian ceramic artist Arne Åse. These compounds are the water-soluble form of the same metals used to color traditional ceramic glazes. After painting on, they soak into the bisque-fired clay, interact with each other, and become a permanent part of the surface after firing. All my work so far is low-fired, at cone 01 or below.

I believe this work is the culmination of a lifetime of disparate experiences and career paths coming together in ways that I can't fully comprehend.

Many thanks to Antoinette Badenhorst and her e-course on Porcelain handbuilding to help me understand the unique qualities of this beautiful material.

Links:
E-courses (online workshops)
Preview E-courses
Demonstrations, tips & techniques
Our Art Instructors

Tags:
#teachinart #MarkGoudy #translucentporcelain #porcelainhandbuilding #Californiaartists #ceramicartists #solublesalts #handbuildceramics #raku #ceramicsmonthly #clayshares

]]><![CDATA[Neriage with Curt Benzle]]>Mon, 02 Dec 2019 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/neriage-with-curt-benzle

Neriage (neriagi), also known as agateware, is a Japanese word that describes the process of blending two, three or four colors of clay in a random fashion. The color range can be very complex or completely random. The clay is not glazed and gives an organic, marble look when fired.

Neriage with complex color ranges on the left and more random red and white colors in the image on the right.

Scraping the clay to get to the great colors.

Potters use this colored clay technique for handbuilding as well as wheel throwing.

Throwing colored clay on the wheel is more challenging because the centering process must be short and precise.

The longer it takes to center the clay or even for the throwing process, the more the colors mix or combine until there is almost no marble left.

Trimming on the wheel brings out the beauty of Neriage.

Wheel throwing with colored clay

Curtis Benzle is a professional artist and teacher with more than 40 years experience in ceramics. His fine translucent porcelain work is included in many private and public collections. Curt presents the colored clay e-course at TeachinArt.

Links:
E-courses (online workshops) at TeachinArt
Demonstrations, tips and techniques (Tips shared by teachers of TeachinArt)
Preview e-courses (take a quick peek into our online workshops)
Art Instructors (Meet our online art instructors)
Colored clay e-course (See more of the online workshop with Curtis Benzle)

Tags:
#neriage #agateware #coloredclay #teachinart #curtisbenzle #colorblending #onlineschool

]]><![CDATA[Handbuilding, slip casting, dipping and paper molds]]>Mon, 04 Nov 2019 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/handbuilding-slip-casting-dipping-and-paper-molds

Patricia Neysens is a potter and bio-engineer from Belgium who completed the colored clay e-course with Curtis Benzle at TeachinArt. Here is she in her own words.
I was born in Watermaal-Bosvoorde (Brussels, Belgium) and spent my entire childhood in the pictoresque municipality of Beersel. We lived close to the famous medieval castle of Beersel and were surrounded by a beautifull nature and numerous local geuze breweries.

Patricia Neysens from Belgium in the Genk Academy

My educational background lies in engineering, science and research. At the free university of Brussels, I first obtained the degree of Bio-engineer in cell and gene biotechnology. That was followed by a PhD in applied biological sciences during which I focused on sourdough fermentation. Thereafter, I started a career in the pharmaceutical industry, mainly as project manager. During that time, I continued taking several classes that brought me closer to my inner selve and passions.

It is no more than 10 years ago that I first experienced working with clay. The joy of creating, the feeling of clay on my hands and the peace of mind all this brought were truly overwhelming. About 5 years ago I decided to enroll in the ceramics program at the Genk academy of visual arts and media. Till today, the ceramics classes have continued to equipped me with skills and knowledge relating to the materials and processes of the discipline. Very soon it became clear that porcelain would become the ideal medium for my work.

L’impermanence – Dahlia (front), Porcelain, cone6 (1245°C), oxidation

L’impermanence – Dahlia (back), Porcelain, cone6 (1245°C), oxidation

Once a researcher, always a researcher, so I dedicate a lot of time to sample making and the testing of new techniques. For the making of my works, I rely on a mix of techniques: handbuilding, slip casting, dipping and the use of paper molds or other “carriers” to make individual elements which then are assembled into a – partly- intuitive final pattern.

Samples, Porcelain, water-soluble metal salts, cone6 (1245°C), oxidation

My finished forms are mostly defined and inspired by the beauty, fragility and strenght of nature. I aim my sculptures to look elegant, refined and vulnerable and hope them to engage the viewers in their tale. To me my works are an instrument to express my own emotions and feelings.

I rarely add color or glazes to my work because I love the whiteness, pureness and translucency of porcelain. I believe that in some cases the combination of shape and a delicate play of texture, results in enough complexity.
In case I do decide to add color, I always keep a certain degree of sobriety in mind not mixing too many color palettes or by using coloring agents that enable me to obtain a subtle natural look and feel. Mostly I rely on the use of either pigments or oxides for the coloring of porcelain clay bodies. When I want to add subtle color to bisque-fired pieces (or even green ware), I prefer the use of water-soluble metal salts. All works are fired at cone 6 under oxidizing conditions.

Square bowl, Porcelain, cone6 (1245°C), oxidation

As a newcomer in the arena of ceramic artists, I want to thank Antoinette and Koos Badenhorst for providing me this platform and for sharing so much valuable information through their e-courses and TeachinArt portal.

Links:
E-courses (online courses) at TeachinArt
Preview e-courses
Demonstrations, tips and techniques
Our art instructors
Colored clay e-course with Curt Benzle

]]><![CDATA[Bone China by John Shirley]]>Mon, 04 Nov 2019 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/bone-china-by-john-shirleyJohn Shirley is a ceramic artist from South Africa, who was selected as a member of the International Academy of Ceramics in 2010. Here is John in his own words.

John with his translucent work in South Africa

In 2000 while studying for my BTech in Ceramic Design I decided that I wanted to work in a translucent body (up until this time I had always worked with porcelain) but I wanted to try something I had not worked in previously.

It was then that I chose bone china as the medium I wanted to explore. This has really been an exciting journey and bone china is the body I still work with today.

The body is traditionally fluxed with bone ash and feldspar and stabilised with Kaolin. Fired to 1250C it produces a body of extreme whiteness and excellent translucency.

As a ceramist living in South Africa where the choice of raw materials is more limited and the quality is less regulated than in many other countries, I was determined to make a translucent body with local materials. This is where my choice to work with bone china really paid off. What I discovered is that the bone ash in the body acts as a bleach on any traces of iron present in the kaolin in the body. As the local kaolins are far from the extremely white kaolins available overseas this proved to be a real bonus.

Antoinette Badenhorst discussed the translucency of the porcelain and bone china soluble salts with John during her visit in Bryanston, South Africa

I started with the usual recipe of 50% bone ash, 25% Feldspar and 25% Kaolin which I made into a casting slip, as bone china is almost impossible to throw. Although my first results were not ideal they were very promising and I adjusted this first test. I tried many different kaolins. I changed from bone ash to tri-calcium phosphate which is synthetically produced. And within a few months arrived at a recipe that produced the results I was aiming for. With a few tweaks from time to time this is the recipe I still use today.

The body has a high shrinkage and a tendency to warp in the firing and although I have tried several ways to stabilize the body in the firing with various setters, I now accept the gentle warping produced by the firing as a part of the process.
Choosing to work with bone china for my work is I feel something that has worked really well for me and the work I produce with this body is quite different to any work I would have produced using the porcelain body I was using before.

Links:

Demonstrations, tips and techniques at TeachinArt
Click here for the video Antoinette interviews John Shirley
John Shirley website www.johnshirleyceramics.com
Antoinette's blog about difference between various kinds of porcelain

Tags:
#SouthAfricanartist #bonechina #JohnShirley #translucentporcelain #IAC

]]><![CDATA[Painting on clay sculptures with Kathlyn J Avila-Reys]]>Thu, 31 Oct 2019 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/painting-on-clay-sculptures-with-kathlyn-j-avila-reysKathlyn J Avila-Reys is a ceramic artist who paint emotions and special effects on her clay sculptures. She completed the Post-fired Finishes class of Marie EVB Gibbons at TeachinArt.
Here is Kathlyn in her own words.

I am an Alexandria, Virginia based artist that taught special needs students and art for 30 years for Fairfax Co. Public Schools. As a life long educator, I have planned and taught workshops for various local community organizations as well as for the Smithsonian Institution, the African American Museum of Art, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

Two of my most favorite workshops I developed and organized was in Oaxaca, Mexico for disabled women and in Ayacucho, Peru for women that had been victimized by the terrorist group, “The Shining Path”.

After my retirement, I missed teaching and researching new ideas to create lessons so I began taking ceramic classes, which I absolutely loved! Even though I had taught ceramics for elementary school students, the classes I took exposed me to a broader aspect of what I could do with clay. After two years of taking classes, I was asked to teach a children’s class, and then, to teach a creative hand building class for adults. As my adult class grew, I decided to focus only on the adults and once again retired from teaching the kids.

I have exhibited my work at numerous galleries, universities, and institutions. I have received a number of awards and certificates, as well as being selected to have a solo show entitled, “No Ordinary Woman”. The theme of this show grew out of my childhood interest in the women in my community, especially those considered to have “special powers”- whether real or imagined. Although I’m inspired by people I have encountered, my figures embody “familiar souls” that viewers can recognize regardless of where or when they grew up. Each of my figures is an expression of a unique individual, whose story is told through adornment, symbolism, and gesture.

Color, pattern, and texture intrigues me which promotes an open playground for ceramics and the ability to explore many of its possibilities. I have always been a doll maker, but the transition of making cloth dolls to ceramic figures has given me a broader enjoyment and satisfaction in the process of their creation. I love the idea of working with a medium that
challenges me to transform a ball of clay into forms and figures that become characters based on my life and imagination. Working in clay has become my mental retreat, my vacation away from the world, my hands are happiest when in the process of construction. My intricate style echoes the influences of African, Native American and Latin American cultures. I uniquely design my work with an ensemble of metaphysical symbolism and color, which then captures an aura of mysticism, magic,
and spirituality.

I create my sculptures through hand building techniques. I’m continually exploring the number of ways I can manipulate the clay to create very textural surfaces. I like the idea of being able to visually explore every aspect of the sculpture with curiosity and discoveries of what can be appealing as well as tactually stimulating. I’ll use all techniques of hand building, pinching, coiling, and slabs. I have an arsenal of approaches for the surface design, slip trailing, stamping, appliqué, and using nichrome wire are just a few of my favorites.

Although I do use traditional glazes to decorate my pieces, I don’t necessarily stop at glazes alone to decorate my work. I like to extend that yearning for texture into my surface treatments. I do a lot of experimentation in glaze combinations as well as other mediums of paints such as oils, enamels, acrylics, chalk paint, and latex. My sewing background has followed me into this genre in the area of mixing media such as dipping cloth into slip, adding non traditional elements to the clay body, even dipping metal into slip to create fragile appendages.

Finding Marie Gibbons class, Post Fired Finishes, has opened up a new door for me in completing my work. Even though I had been using acrylics in my work before, the paint left my work looking flat and plastic. I love how Marie has taught me how to add more dimension to my work with her layering style of colors. As an educator, I never feel like I know so much, that I can’t learn more. Learning new techniques excites me, it keeps the thrill of creating fresh and explorative.

The format that TeachinArt uses to teach their classes is fantastic, informative, detailed instruction on the technique, and sequentially builds on the procedure. Marie is down to earth in her approach to teaching, which left me feeling like I had known her for years. I have been highly inspired by taking this class and very appreciative for having the opportunity to take this class.

Links:
E-courses (online workshops) at TeachinArt
Preview E-courses
Our Art Instructors
China painting with Paul Lewing
Demonstrations, tips & techniques

Tags:
#paintingonclay #claysculptures #clayartist #Virginiapotter #handmade #clayshares #teachinart

]]><![CDATA[Glazing tips: Prepare your pottery for successful glazing]]>Wed, 23 Oct 2019 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/glazing-tips-prepare-your-pottery-for-successful-glazing

If you are a potter, how many times have you found a lid stuck to a teapot or lidded box due to the glazing? How many times have you wiped off glaze that you should not have wiped off? How many times did you loose a lovely teapot because you had to break the lid loose from the teapot?

These pictures below are examples of the glazing challenges that potters experience when making anything with a lid on.

Glazing fault. The teapot broke when the lid was forced off.

Another glaze fault. The lid got stuck during firing and had to be removed with force from the teapot

Connie shows the teapot set that she created during the online class.

Connie Christensen is a ceramic artist from Denver, Colorado and is one of the online art instructors at TeachinArt. She explains how to prevent some of the glazing problems that makes life difficult for potters. Her first online class at TeachinArt (Faceted teapot set) was to teach pottery students how to throw a proper tea set on the wheel - using porcelain clay. She used wiggle wire as the decoration tool for the faceting and demonstrated how to make a cane handle for the teapot. She is also the instructor of the Shino glazing online class.

In the online class, Connie discuss glazing challenges and shows easy techniques for preparing pots for successful glazing.

Links:
Faceted teapot set e-course with Connie Christensen
Shino glazing e-course with Connie Christensen
Glazing made easy e-course with Antoinette Badenhorst (guest artist Lynn Barnwell)
E-courses (online classes) at TeachinArt
Demonstrations, tips and techniques
Our art instructors

Tags:
#facetedteapots #porcelainteapots #makingteapots #teachingartist #Coloradopotter #teachinart #ceramicschool #teapotset #clayteapot

]]><![CDATA[Tips: How to use balloons for translucent handmade porcelain bowls]]>Mon, 21 Oct 2019 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/tips-how-to-use-balloons-for-translucent-handmade-porcelain-bowls

Sculpting with porcelain is possible if you understand the character of the clay. Antoinette Badenhorst, ceramic artist from Mississippi uses different techniques to build her porcelain sculptures. Balloons are one of the techniques.

She demonstrates in this video how to use a balloon to make a translucent porcelain bowl that can be used as part of a bigger handmade project. She shows in the video that the balloon shaped bowl may also be used as part of a porcelain dinner set. The size and shape of the balloon will dictate the size and shape of the bowl.

Links:
E-courses (online workshops)
Preview E-courses
Demonstrations, tips & techniques

Our Art Instructors
Understanding Porcelain
Porcelain handbuilding

Tags:
#sculptingclay #translucentporcelain #ceramicschool #porcelainsculptures #claysculptures #potterytips #teachinart

]]><![CDATA[Tips for preserving paper clay with Antoinette Badenhorst]]>Fri, 18 Oct 2019 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/tips-for-preserving-paper-clay-with-antoinette-badenhorst

Paper clay is many times used by ceramic artists to make the construction of sculptures easier. Antoinette Badenhorst demonstrates how she uses paper clay to create translucent porcelain vessels. Paper clay burns out in the pottery kiln and does not really affects the final outcome of the sculpture. It helps with the forming and sculpturing.

Carving with porcelain clay may be challenging because of the paper that is in the clay.

If you store the wet paper clay, it changes color and does not have a good smell.

The tip for storing paper clay is to roll it into a tile. Let it dry out completely. Store it as you will store normal tiles. No smell, no hustle, no coloring.

When you want to use it again, wrap it in a wet cloth like a towel. Let it soak in the water for about an hour. Unwrap the towel and use the paper clay as if you just made it.

Links:
Understanding porcelain e-course with Antoinette Badenhorst
Porcelain handbuilding e-course with Antoinette Badenhorst
E-courses (online workshops) at TeachinArt
Demonstrations, tips and techniques (Tips shared by teachers of TeachinArt)
Preview e-courses (take a quick peek into our online workshops)
Art Instructors (Meet our online art instructors)

Tags:
#paperclay #paperporcelain #translucentporcelain #recycleclay

]]><![CDATA[Artist expression of memory loss]]>Tue, 08 Oct 2019 04:10:58 GMThttps://www.teachinart.com/blog/artist-expression-of-memory-loss

Dementia is a brain disease that causes a long-term and often gradual memory loss and decrease in the ability to think. It affects a person's daily functioning and family members have to learn to cope with something that they do not understand.

Marie EVB Gibbons is one of the online instructors at TeachinArt who teaches the online workshop, post-fired finishes. She shows in her online class how to paint with acrylics on clay. She makes her own clay sculptures and each of these is used to tell a life story.
Her dad went through the struggles of dementia, and as an artist, she tried to understand what it means to loose your memory and mind. Here is Marie in her own words. She uses her clay sculptures and acrylic paints to express the emotions and sadness of dealing with dementia (loss of memory).

Marie's visual display of dementia - loosing your mind.

There are many emotions involved when people who you love loose their mind and memory.

I watched this video again - of me speaking about what I was trying to figure out about dementia, and I look at that now and think, wow, those were the good old days.
That is when my Dad could acknowledge his malfunctioning memory, but still manage to move forward, and live his life.

Now, my Dad is living in a memory care facility. He is in a constant state of not knowing, not understanding, not remembering.
Now, he tries so hard to gain an understanding of why. Why is he there. What has happened to him. What is being done to help him.

The saddest part - in my opinion, is that you can't explain to a person with dementia that they have dementia.
I think even cancer is a kinder evil. At least someone with cancer can understand there is an evil in their body, an illness.

A person with dementia cannot understand that their brain is dying, it is not working with them anymore, in fact it is working against them. The very thing (the brain) that helps one comprehend, is not an aid in problem solving and analysis, but a tool of distraction. It's like accidentally leaning on the delete button of your keyboard, and all of a sudden being witness to things just erasing, to become unaccessible.

When he doesn't know who I am, he questions if I am someone important to him. I choose to believe that this is proof of the heart's memory. That somehow, in his being, he knows me, but it is not in the traditional way of knowing. When I confirm that I am someone important, that I am his daughter, it brings him to tears, and to feelings of stupidity, and sadness. How can a father forget his child, his wife, his life. I try to comfort him with explanations that might make sense, to both he and I. I like the analogy of an air bubble. I tell him, "I am in an air bubble right now. You can't see the information that goes with me, but the bubble will pop eventually (and hopefully, for a little longer) and then you'll put it all together again, as it is visible, even if just for a moment.

I have to say, I don't know how to process and understand this. I'm trying, but I am not finding the right words, imagery, metaphor.

The best analogy I've come up with lately is "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" an old movie with a story line of aliens stealing people's lives, replacing them with a 'pod' that resembled their physical body but not the same person.

That is dementia to me at this moment.
Something that has stolen my father's mind, life, memories, being. We have this physical body in front of us that tempts us into a belief that maybe, just maybe things could be OK again.

But, that is far from the truth. I find myself mourning a soul, being stuck with a body. It's such a conflict.

Links:
Post-fired finishes e-course with Marie Gibbons
E-courses (online workshops) at TeachinArt online school of art
Preview e-courses at TeachinArt
Demonstrations, tips and techniques

Tags:
#paintingonclay #postfiredfinishes #mariegibbons #teachinart #dementia #memoryloss #arteducation #teachingart #claysculpture #acrylicpainting

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